Monday, June 23, 2014

Did you read that Uber, the mobile application company, received $1.2 billion in additional VC investment this month? Why would investors be willing to invest so much? Investors believe that Uber is among a group of mobile app companies capable of disrupting entire industries. They are a data driven start-up enabled by mobile devices.

For insight into this innovative and transformative company read their description, "Uber is evolving the way the world moves. By seamlessly connecting riders to drivers through our [mobile] apps, we make cities more accessible, opening up more possibilities for riders and more business for drivers. Now that is an ambitious "About" statement!

Do you know how many taxis Uber maintains? NONE! They are a company using data in innovative ways to make money. Data on drivers, riders, locations, history, payment information, ratings, etc. They collect data (bits and bytes), share it with drivers and riders via mobile devices, and make huge amounts of money. This is the new world of Code Halos in action. What does Code Halos mean? Code Halos are the information that surrounds people, organizations and devices.

I was particularly interested by the fact that Uber identifies itself as a mobile app company. A company who could not exist without mobile apps, GPS (thank you US government), and wireless connection to the Internet.

Todd Lutwak, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, the VC firm, says they look for start-ups that reflect their belief that "software eats the world." Software and the convergence of the physical with the digital world (think maps, 3D printing, infrared scanning, digital blueprints, augmented reality, etc.), enables algorithms, Code Halos strategies, machine learning, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and more. All of which can take a traditional industry and turn it upside down. The players of tomorrow, are unlikely going to be the traditional players in an industry today, as Lutwak said industry disruptors almost always come from the outside of the industry.

Lutwak also said the cost to start-up a company today is down 100x what it once was due to open source technologies, cloud computing, SaaS business models and globalization. In addition, the size of potential markets for technology, due to the unstoppable "software eats the world" tsunami, is 50x larger what it once was. Why? Here is an example, AirBnB is turning every person with a spare room or apartment into a entrepreneur that uses technology. In years past these businesses did not exist. The market for technology has grown exponentially.

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.